In Solidarity With AFSCME Council 31

CHICAGO-Following is the statement of SEIU Healthcare President Keith Kelleher in response to the Illinois Labor Relations Board’s decision Tuesday to ignore the findings of an administrative law judge and declare impasse in negotiations with AFSCME Council 31:

“The decision by Bruce Rauner’s hand-picked labor board to join in the governor’s attack on AFSCME Council 31 is disgraceful, but it’s just the next step in Rauner’s single-minded mission to end labor peace in Illinois. While Illinoisans overwhelmingly rejected his agenda at the polls last week, Rauner continues his march toward destroying the power that flows to workers when they choose to organize collectively. It’s a power under attack in Washington by Donald Trump the same way it is here in Illinois with his ally Bruce Rauner.

“Under Rauner, more than 50,000 of our state child care and home healthcare workers have been without a contract for some 19 months. We stand in solidarity with AFSCME now and in the fights to come. The future of the labor movement in Illinois and across our nation depends on it.”